Accidental Rescue
by Aesop
Summary: Two women with something in comm on meet under stressful circumstances.
1. Accidental Rescue

ACCIDENTAL RESCUE

DISCLAIMER: I don't own the characters of BTVS or W.I.T.C.H. and I earn no profit in writing this.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: This takes place in the same continuity as 'I'm Done' but is not a sequel and stands alone quite well. If you have any comments or preferences, please don't be shy. RandR.

Dawn Summers paced the room she awakened in, furiously thinking. There had to be a way out. She just hadn't found it yet. It was bare concrete with the only ingress or egress provided by a metal rollup door. The room had few amenities. There was a paper plate with a sandwich on it and a cup of water near the door. In another corner, there was a bucket. _Ew_.

It was obviously one of those self-storage places, and the door was firmly locked from the outside. She had awakened almost an hour ago, and hadn't seen or heard a sign of anyone. Her memories of the events leading up to that awakening weren't of much use either.

She was in town on Council business, looking into rumors of demonic activity in the small city. It was her first mission on her own, well mostly on her own, there were two new Slayers nearby, that, she suspected, Buffy had sent to keep an eye on her. Dawn had had to promise not to patrol on her own or take any risks. The trip was to be strictly research. _And it will probably be the last time she lets me out of her sight_, Dawn thought morosely. Someone had grabbed her in a parking garage and slapped a chloroform soaked rag over her face. She hadn't seen who, but she suspected it was whoever owned the gray van that had been parked next to her rental car.

She had already checked her pockets and discovered that everything had been taken from her, not that the contents of her wallet would have been much help, but the cell phone, stake, and wristwatch were sorely missed. Naturally, the creep had taken her cell phone. _Why can't I ever get abducted by an idiot?_ She didn't count Harmony. Even the blonde ditz wouldn't have been _that_ stupid. Dawn took a moment to wonder if whoever had grabbed her had been puzzled by the pointy piece of wood. Probably not.

In frustration, she kicked the door causing it to rattle loudly. To her surprise, there was a response. A low moan came from somewhere to her left. She searched the wall with her eyes and found the small air-conditioning vent that she had disregarded earlier as a means of escape. It was only a few inches wide, but if there was someone willing to talk in the next unit, she might at least learn something about her situation. She knelt by the vent. "Hello?"

Another moan and the sound of movement were her only answers for a moment. "Wha' happened?" More shifting and the muffled sounds of someone getting to their feet. "Hello? Where am I?" The voice belonged to a woman and was growing panicked.

"Calm down," Dawn called. "That's not going to help." The woman stopped the struggle she'd begun with the door.

"Who are you? What's going on?"

"My name's Dawn, and I was hoping you could tell me. I take it you're locked in, too?"

"Yes." Dawn heard the rollup door in the neighboring unit rattle. "Who did this?"

"Don't know. What do you remember?"

"I was grocery shopping. I went out to my car and someone grabbed me." A moment passed. "My watch is gone. Do you know what time it is?"

"No. Mine's gone too, along with everything else I was carrying." She settled down near the vent. "What's your name?"

"Susan. Susan Vandom."

"Dawn Summers. Nice to meet you." The two compared notes, but came up with nothing new. Susan thought there might have been a gray van nearby, but wasn't sure. She also had no idea why anyone would kidnap her. She was an executive at the company she worked for, but not a particularly important one. Her primary concern at the moment was her daughter.

"Will will be worried when I don't come home. She doesn't have any other family in town." Dawn frowned as a possibility occurred to her.

"How old is she?"

"Will? She's 13."

"Uh-oh," Dawn sighed.

"What?"

"Um, nothing." If Will Vandom was a new slayer, just coming into her abilities, it could explain why her mother had been kidnapped. It was unlikely Susan knew about demons and slayers, and Dawn wasn't about to enlighten her based on what could be a coincidence. If her guess was right, Will would decide whether or not to tell her mother. Only then would she get the full spiel and mother and daughter could make the necessary decisions together. That was one of the rules the new council worked under. In the meantime…

"Do you know why you're here?"

"Um, maybe," Dawn hedged. It was almost certain to be something demon related. "My sister works for a big company, has access to lots of money and other things people might want." That was true enough and vague enough. "That's my best guess, anyway. I don't know why you're here if that's what this is about, though."

"Guess we'll just have to wait and see." That, Dawn reflected, was unfortunately true. She knew some magic that might help, but all of it required items or ingredients she didn't have. Will was reluctant to teach her magic, and Buffy was reluctant for her to learn.

The two women chatted for almost an hour about various topics until the sound of a heavy security door being opened drew their attention. Two sets of footsteps could be heard coming down the hall outside. "She's in the seventh unit Mr. Frost," came a muffled voice. "I trust you have my payment."

"I've got it," a gruff voice answered. "Why are you wearin' a mask?"

There was a moment of fumbling and a grunt of satisfaction before the first man answered. "I told your employer. No one sees my face. When you have what you came for, go quickly. I have other business to attend to." One set of footsteps retreated. The second approached their improvised cells. Those footsteps became inexplicably heavier, and there was the sound of tearing metal before the door to her cell was yanked violently upward.

The creature stood over six feet tall and seemed to be made out of muscle. The pointed ears and the armor it wore told Dawn that she had been correct. The situation definitely involved demons. To her surprise, though, the creature stopped and stared at her in confusion. "Who are you?" he demanded, looking down at a picture in his hand.

"Dawn. And your are?"

The thing growled and backed out of the storage unit. "Where are you?" he shouted. "This is not… you, again!" He started down the hall, leaving the way clear for Dawn. She stepped out and took in the scene before her in a glance. The big ugly was advancing on a skinny 15-year-old boy. The boy was armed with a club, which he had evidently used on the man in the ski mask at the end of the hall. He was also evidently either very brave or very stupid, because he wasn't backing down. The big thing, Frost Dawn guessed, looked like he could snap the kid like a twig.

"Now!" the kid called. There was a bright flash from overhead and a section of the air-conditioning vent came down on Frost's head. There was a loud clang and the creature dropped like a stone. "Ha! Good work, Blunk!"

That was when Dawn saw the other. A small green demon was jumping up and down excitedly and laughing. "Great warrior, Blunk!" it cried happily. "Great warrior, Blunk!"

"No complaints here," Dawn chipped in. The two turned to look at her.

"Ah, who are you?" the boy asked as the great warrior Blunk gave a small scream and ducked out of sight.

"Dawn, and you can tell your friend not to worry. I know about his kind." The two traded unreadable looks. "Who are you looking for?"

"Will's mom," the small creature answered, peering out from behind the fallen piece of vent.

"Oh. Next cell. I guess the big ugly can't count."

"Thanks," the boy answered. "I'm Matt, by the way." He turned to Blunk. "Can you use the tooth to get Frost back to the palace. I'm sure the queen can find a nice dank cell for him."

"Uh-huh! Uh-huh!" the creature bobbed its head excitedly and raised a decidedly magical looking artifact. A flash similar to the one Dawn had seen before appeared under Frost, and he fell through it.

"Let me guess," Dawn asked. "He used one of those rifts to sever the air vent?"

"Pretty cool, huh?" Matt grinned as he knelt by Susan's cell, and fiddled with the lock. "Why are you here?"

"Don't know. I'm hoping the guy you knocked out can tell me." The lock opened and Matt raised the door after making sure there was nothing demonic in sight.

"Matt?" A pretty, dark-haired woman stared at him. "What are you doing here? What's going on?"

"You're being rescued," Dawn answered for him. "Mind if I tag along?"

NOT THE END


	2. Meetings and Misunderstandings

MEETINGS AND MISUNDERSTANDINGS

DISCLAIMER: I don't own the characters of BTVS or W.I.T.C.H. and I earn no profit in writing this.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: This takes place in the same continuity as 'I'm Done' but is not a sequel and stands alone quite well. If you have any comments or preferences, please don't be shy. RandR.

Will Vandom wasn't worried about her mother. This was explained by the simple fact that she hadn't been home all night. The current crisis in Meridian took precedence over the grounding she was sure to get. She knew she'd be in trouble when she got back home, but she couldn't worry about that. Elyon was missing, kidnapped by the old hag that had been behind so much of the kingdom's recent troubles.

Elyon's mother was pacing furiously, ringing her hands. Her father was calmer but not by much. Both blamed themselves. That, Will decided, had to stop. "It's not your fault," she insisted.

"No," Caleb agreed. "It's mi-"

"No it isn't, and that's not helping!" Cornelia snapped. "None of us suspected Trill. What we need to do now is find a way to fix this."

"Maybe the Oracle could tell us more, now," Irma suggested. "We still don't have her real name, but we know what she was after. We know where she's been and what she's done."

"Maybe the Knights could tell us more about her," Taranee suggested. "When we tell them how she was using them, and that she's not gonna rescue them, they might get mad enough to tell us something useful."

Will nodded. "We'll try both. I'll go see the Oracle with what we know. Irma, you and Caleb talk to the knights. Make with the mockery."

"I can do that," the brown-haired girl grinned.

"The rest of you search Trill's room talk to people who know her. Find out anything you can."

"I don't think that'll lead anywhere, Will." Taranee pushed her glasses up her nose in a familiar gesture. "She's been playing this role for years, and she fooled everyone, even Phobos who was always on the lookout for spies." Will sighed.

"You're right. We need to…" A bright flash interrupted them and the last of the knights of vengeance landed before them with a thud. Blunk stood on the big creature's back, looking extremely pleased with himself.

"Blunk?" Caleb snapped out of his funk to stare at the sight before him. "What happened? How-."

"Blunk capture Frost," the passling practically crowed. "Matt helped."

"Where was he hiding?" Caleb asked, interrupting Will's near automatic question regarding her boyfriend's safety. Frost was the last of the Knights unaccounted for and the reason for their presence in Meridian. Had he not managed to slip away, and subsequently been spotted in his human guise in Heatherfield, they wouldn't have even known about Elyon's kidnapping. Will had folded to Meridian to let Elyon know, only to learn of the latest catastrophe.

If there was any good news, it was that his capture meant that the hag, whoever she was, had no supporters. Guards were called while the Guardians and Caleb gathered around the passling.

"On Earth." Blunk suddenly looked more serious. He turned to Will. "Big problem. Will need know."

"What do I need to know? Is Matt-?"

"Matt fine," he assured her, "so is Will's mom."

"My mother?" The leader of the Guardians grew pale. "Wh-what about her?"

"Knights hire man on Earth to capture her. Blunk see and follow. Guardians gone, so go find Matt. We rescue."

"She's okay?" Blunk nodded. "She saw you? And Frost?"

"No. Matt told Blunk bring Frost here before opening door."

"You should go, Will," Hay Lin interrupted. "Go see that she's okay."

Blunk gave her the address and Will reached for the Heart. She paused a moment to glance at the others. "Go," Taranee insisted. "Check on our families, too. I'll talk to the Oracle." Will nodded and vanished.

"Our families?" Cornelia looked as shaken as Taranee felt.

"They're scattered across the country. Yours is in Paris. Will's mom and Hay Lin's grandmother are the only ones still in Heatherfield. Trill, or whoever she is must have been planning this as a distraction. We can't let it work." The others nodded, reluctantly, but didn't look any less worried.

OOOOOOOOOO

Danielle glanced at the building the tracking spell indicated. "She's in there, and still alive." Maria nodded once. "How do you wanna handle this?" the younger girl asked. At 15, Danielle was what many would have called a late bloomer. She stood only four ft. tall and could easily pass for 12. She tended to defer to her 17 year-old partner in almost everything. Maria stood just shy of six feet tall and was Danielle's opposite in a lot of ways. A serious, bookish girl, Maria spent as much time in the library as she did in the gym where they trained. The standing joke was that she was going to be her own Watcher.

Danielle didn't have the patience for books. She loved to push herself physically, loved the whole Slayer package, and seemed to have an endless supply of energy. Even Faith had been worn out by her raw enthusiasm. Their current assignment, keeping an eye on Dawn Summers, should have been an easy one. Their presence hadn't been explained to Dawn that way, of course, but the oldest living Slayer's sister wasn't stupid. She knew that the two had been sent from their training center up the coast to watch her back rather than investigate vague rumors of evil pixies.

"I'd prefer to do a little recon," Maria admitted, "but we don't know why she was brought here or what they have planned. Straight in, fast and hard."

"I like it," Danielle smiled as they moved toward the entrance, keeping to the shadows as much as possible before rushing through the door. The sight that greeted them was not the one they had expected. Dawn Summers was standing with an older, dark-haired woman and a boy about Danielle's age. They were gathered around a prone figure in a ski mask that Summers had just finished hogtying.

"Hey, guys," Dawn offered conversationally, ignoring the crossbows. The others weren't as nonchalant. The boy actually raised his hands, but Danielle could see by his stance and the tension in his shoulders, that he was evaluating them, measuring distances, making and discarding plans. He seemed especially focused on her for some reason. She saved him the trouble and embarrassment by raising the crossbow.

"You okay, Miss Summers?" Maria asked. Dawn nodded.

"Yeah. Matt here got me out when he came to rescue her." She nodded to the older woman. "This is Susan Vandom." She then introduced the two Slayers to her new friends. "That," she pointed to the prone figure, "is the guy who snatched us. I'm thinking Q&A."

"I'm thinking police," Susan put in. "I'm also thinking, why does your rescue party consist of two teenage girls with crossbows?"

"As opposed to one teenage boy with a club?"

"Point." She looked at Matt. "Why didn't you go for the police?" Dawn thought it a good question. He obviously wanted to keep her from knowing about demons, and she wondered what he would come up with.

"I didn't know why he'd brought you here or what he might do to you. It was just the one guy, and I didn't want to waste time going for help." _Not bad_, Dawn admitted. _Believable_.

"And it had nothing to do with impressing Will?" The implied accusation actually surprised him, Dawn noted, judging by his expression.

"Actually, no, I was just thinking how she'd hurt if anything happened to you." He didn't look away as he said this, and after a moment, Susan nodded, seeming to accept the answer. Dawn noticed, though, that there was no mention of small, smelly green demons or mystical trinkets.

"Who's Will?" Maria asked.

"Her daughter," Dawn answered quietly. "Her thirteen-year-old daughter, whose boyfriend knows about demons." The two slayers traded knowing looks before refocusing on the two 'civilians.'

Wanting to move past the awkward moment, Susan turned her attention to her kidnapper. "Lets have a look at him." She reached down and pulled the ski mask off before anyone could think of a reason she shouldn't. The face that action revealed made her jump back. Though, to her credit, she didn't scream or faint. "What? What is that?"

OOOOOOOOOO

Matt eyed the creature curiously. He'd never seen anything quite like it. There were several sentient species native to Meridian, but he'd never seen one like this.

"M'Fashnik," one of the girls commented, looking not at all surprised.

"You've seen this type before?" Matt asked. Will's mom, he noted was looking back and forth between the two. He could see the gears spinning in her mind.

"Matt? What is that thing?" she demanded, her voice rising slightly. "What do you know?"

He sighed. "Not as much as you might think." He looked at the creature. "I think we'd be better off just going. These three seem to know what they're doing, and I don't think giving this guy to the police is really an option."

"Good thinking," the short girl, Danielle he remembered, smirked, but then her head cocked toward the door. "Company. Might be friends of his," she nodded at the unconscious creature. "I'll check it out." The short, dark-haired girl went to the outer door and peeked out before darting through. A few seconds later, there was a bright and very distinctive flash of light. It was followed, in quick succession, by three more before Danielle dove back through the door.

"Danielle?" Maria asked, concerned. The younger girl looked decidedly spooked, which Matt could understand. He knew the situation could get ugly if he didn't step in. He was reluctant to reveal more than he already had to the strangers, but they seemed to already know something of magic and creatures from other dimensions.

"You know those rumors we came here to check out?" Maria nodded. "Not rumors. And it throws lightning bolts."

"Real rumors?" Dawn asked, eyeing the door warily. "I thought Buffy just sent you along to keep an eye on me."

"And you think we couldn't come up with a better lie than evil pixies?" Maria snorted, raising her crossbow to cover the door while Danielle reloaded. "Please. Give us some credit."

"Whoa!" Matt interrupted, deciding he'd best act immediately before someone got hurt. "Let me handle this. I think I know what's happening." He headed for the door. "Relax," he assured her when Danielle grabbed his arm with a strength that surprised him. "I know her." She considered for a few seconds. "She's gonna bust the door down any time now, and those crossbows aren't going to help. I have to calm her down." She let him pull away and walk outside.

"Evil pixies?" he heard Mrs. Vandom ask.

"You don't want to know," the younger girl assured her. Whatever else passed between them, he didn't hear it as the door closed behind him.

"Will?" he called, looking around. Then he saw her coming down off the roof. "It's okay. Your mom's safe."

"What happened?" the irate and very worried redhead demanded.

"Blunk saw your mother snatched and came to get me. I arrived to find a guy in a ski mask pointing out the unit she was locked in to Frost. We managed to stop them, and Blunk took Frost to Meridian."

"And Miranda?"

"Miranda? OH! No. That isn't Miranda. Kind of looks like her, I guess, from a distance. Her name is Danielle. She came here to rescue another woman the guy in the ski mask kidnapped." He paused and frowned, puzzled. "There's something weird happening there, Will. I mean they showed up with crossbows, and the guy in the ski mask isn't human, but I don't think it involves us. Lets just get your mom home safe, and worry about the others if we have to, later."

"This guy? From Meridian?"

"Don't know. Maybe." Matt shook his head. "I've never seen anything like him."

"Okay," she agreed after a moment. "I'll meet you there." She rose into the air and took off for home. Matt watched her fly out of sight before turning and heading back in.

"We're good. Time to go Mrs. Vandom."

"Good?" Danielle demanded. "What was that?"

"Relax," Matt hastened to reassure her. "It was just a misunderstanding. She thought you were someone else."

"What? Who?" Matt was hesitant to answer, sneaking looks at his girlfriend's mother.

"Answer her, Matt. I want to know too, and I want to know if you involve my daughter in things like this." The tone brooked no argument. Susan had gotten over her shock for the most part and was slipping into mother bear mode.

"Well… She's kind of… feuding with this spider thing. It can look human when it wants to. It can look like a little girl with dark hair, kind of like yours. From a distance, I guess you look like her."

"And how do you know these demons?" Maria asked.

"Demons? Um… Who said anything about demons?"

"A spider creature that can look human and an evil pixie that throws lightning bolts?"

"Not evil," Matt interjected, hastily. "Okay, the spider is, but the, ah, pixie is one of the good guys, honest. She doesn't show herself often, but she does help out in emergencies."

"We'd like to talk to her," Maria told him. "Can you arrange that?"

Matt shook his head. "I don't have her phone number or address, but if I see her again, I'll give her a message."

"And Will?" Susan interrupted, growing short-tempered.

"Doesn't know about any of this, and probably wouldn't want to. Frankly, _I_ don't want to, hence the, um, leaving now." The M'Fashnik chose that moment to groan, and Matt started. "Really time to go," he took Susan's hand and pulled her toward the door. "I'd rather not be here when he wakes up."

She nodded, for once in full agreement with her daughter's boyfriend and hurried after him.

OOOOOOOOOO

"Well, that was odd," Maria opined after kicking the M'Fashnik in the head to put it back to sleep.

"He definitely knows more than he's saying," Dawn agreed. "Will Vandom could be a slayer we haven't identified yet. That would explain a few things, but lets not jump to conclusions. We'll do the usual tests." She glanced down at the M'Fashnik. "In the meantime, lets see what we can learn about this guy."


	3. Incompatible

INCOMPATIBLE

DISCLAIMER: I don't own the characters of BTVS or W.I.T.C.H. and I earn no profit in writing this.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: This takes place in the same continuity as 'I'm Done' but is not a sequel and stands alone quite well. If you have any comments or preferences, please don't be shy. RandR.

"The spell should tell us what we need to know without having to approach her. It's a variation on the one Miss Rosenberg used to locate potentials in Sunnydale."

Danielle looked dubious. "And you can keep it from zeroing in on us? I mean that'd be kind of useless if it just pointed to the nearest slayer."

"I've got it covered," Maria assured her patiently. "Now all we need is the opportunity to test it."

"Shouldn't do it when she's at home. Her mother might notice."

"If this works right, Will won't notice, but we'll wait regardless."

The wait wasn't long, and the young redhead they had identified as Will Vandom was soon spotted leaving her apartment. She started up the street toward the bus stop where the two waited inconspicuously.

OOOOOOOOOO

Will had greeted her mother with deliberate casualness when she came home. After all, she wasn't supposed to know that Susan Vandom had been kidnapped by a creature from another world. Will had asked why her mother had been out all night and about her boyfriend. This gave Susan the excuse she needed to be indignant and not answer. Neither was happy with the outcome, but each, for similar reasons, accepted it.

Susan didn't want to worry her daughter, or to involve her with demons or whatever those creatures had been. It was better, she concluded, that Will believe she had been out all night with Dean. The girl would be angry, but she wouldn't worry.

For her part, Will didn't want to think about how her mother would react if she found out about her activities as a Guardian, it would be bad enough if she found out that her 13-year-old daughter hadn't been at home all night, worrying. Having never been one to find humor in irony, Will, nevertheless, appreciated the strangeness of the situation they found themselves in. _No_, she reflected, _nothing at all funny about this_.

That wasn't the only frustration. The Guardians had been forced to return to their families to avoid panicking them. The Oracle had been uninformative, Raythor had been uncooperative, and the still unnamed sorceress had been busy. Two villages had fallen victim to her pranks. She had used the Heart of Meridian to level one outright and had conjured beasts of some sort to drive out the residents of another. There seemed to be no specific goal or pattern to her actions. Caleb had promised to stay in touch and let them know what he learned.

The last thing Will wanted was to argue, so she settled for asking that her mother call in the future so she wouldn't worry, and then headed for the Silver Dragon to see Hay Lin.

OOOOOOOOOO

Maria spoke a few words of Latin, and opened the small, ornate box. To all but the caster, the effect of the spell was nearly invisible. A small puff of smoke rose from the box before seeming to dissipate. Instead of drifting apart, however, it moved with a purpose toward the oblivious redhead. There were a few other people on the street, but none of them would notice the spell being worked.

"Well?" Danielle asked after a moment.

"Shh. I have to concentrate." Maria directed the spell toward her target, watching carefully for the reaction. If the spell worked, the other girl's aura would become briefly visible to her, and whether or not she was a slayer would be obvious. Variations on the spell had been designed for different situations. There was a spell that could locate new slayers in a city using a map. There was a spell that worked like the one she used now without the complications of concealing the effect. The circumstances required subtlety, though. The target of the spell was unaware, and there were other people around.

The smoke quickly reached Will, but when it made contact with her, there was an unexpected reaction. Her aura became visible, just as intended, but it became visible to all. A bright pink light flared around her, dancing wildly like a candle flame someone had tried, unsuccessfully, to blow out. Will Vandom screamed in pain, drawing the attention of everyone within earshot. There was a bright flash of light, and she vanished as if she'd never been.


	4. Panic and Confusion

PANIC AND CONFUSION

DISCLAIMER: I don't own the characters of BTVS or W.I.T.C.H. and I earn no profit in writing this.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: This takes place in the same continuity as 'I'm Done' but is not a sequel and stands alone quite well. If you have any comments or preferences, please don't be shy. RandR.

Maria stared, openmouthed, at the spot where the redheaded girl had been, before breaking into a run. There were a handful of people on the street, a few of which had been fairly close to Will when the spell had gone wrong. It shouldn't have made a difference. It certainly shouldn't have hurt her. _What happened?!_

"Will!" A female voice drew their attention upwards. Susan Vandom was standing at a window, staring in shock at the spot where her daughter had vanished. Maria blanched as the older woman caught sight of her. What was she supposed to do now? There would be questions she couldn't answer, some because she didn't know the answer and some she just couldn't, at least not honestly. On reaching the spot where the girl had disappeared, Maria went to one knee and began to examine the ground. There was nothing there, which was good and bad. _At least_, she reassured herself, _there are no burn marks or ashes_. _Teleport, maybe?_

A small crowd was gathering. She ignored them, and the confused babble coming from them, thinking furiously, until the sound of running feet caused her to raise her eyes.

"Poor kid," one bystander said. "I heard of this, but never thought I'd see it."

"See what?" another random stranger asked as Susan Vandom arrived on the scene.

"Spontaneous human combustion. She just… whoosh!"

"Don't be dense," Maria snapped at the man as she met Susan's tortured eyes. "Something like that leaves traces, ashes and burn marks. There's nothing here."

"I suppose you're an exp-. OW!"

"Beat it!" Danielle ordered, shoving the man away. "Maria?"

"I don't know, but I think she was taken somewhere."

"Alien abduction?" a woman asked. Danielle spared her a fierce glare and the speaker backed away.

"Dawn's coming," she told Maria, then turned to Will's mother. "I think we need to talk."

"Talk?" Susan demanded, her voice going shrill. "Do you know what happened? Do you know where my little girl is?"

"No," Danielle admitted, "but we'll help you find out. I promise." A siren sounded up the street, and a police car could be seen approaching. "Oh great. Who called the cops?"

Maria looked up and sighed. This was going to complicate things.

OOOOOOOOOO

The small farm wasn't much to look at, but it had been his family's home for many generations. His cousin still ran it, and it was at his cousin's bidding that he'd come. The message had been urgent, yet somewhat cryptic, and Aldarn had left his post at once, leaving his second-in-command to conduct the search of the neighboring Samar province. There had been a sighting of the sorceress there, and all possibilities had to be pursued.

"Bertel!" Aldarn grinned at the sight of his cousin coming out to greet him. They met in the front yard and embraced.

"It's been too long since you've visited, cousin."

"Strange and busy times for all of us," Aldarn nodded grimly. "I cannot linger, cousin, much as I might wish. My duty to our queen demands my attention right now."

"Then you should come inside." He led the way into the house. In a small bedroom at the back, Bertel's wife was sitting next to a bed in which lay a young human girl, unconscious. Aldarn recognized her immediately.

"Will?" He went to her side immediately and sat on the edge of the bed. "What happened?" he demanded. She didn't look well at all.

"We're not sure. She appeared through a fold yesterday morning, in the south field. She was screaming when she arrived, and for a moment the light from her necklace shone so brightly I thought she was on fire." Bertel shuddered at the memory. "When the light died away, she collapsed. She hasn't moved since. The village healer is a man I trust implicitly, you remember Umar? He examined her and can find no injury."

"You've kept this a secret?"

"Was it not a trusted servant of the queen who caused our current woes?"

Aldarn nodded. Many details had been kept quiet, but Trill's betrayal was general knowledge. "A sensible precaution," he allowed. "I can arrange to have the palace physician examine her, and I will send word to the other Guardians on Earth." Bertel nodded, relieved. "How did you-?"

"I saw her and the others battling Phobos' troops once, a few months ago." He glanced away, unable to meet his cousin's eyes. "They fought so bravely on our behalf…I…"

"You had your duty to our family, as did I," Aldarn assured him. It was an old source of friction between them. Bertel had always been the more reserved of the two. He was a farmer at heart, not a soldier, and had placed his duty to the family above his duty to their people as a whole. Aldarn had found fault with him for this in the past, but their arguments on that subject were long since over. In his own way, Bertel had kept faith, even if he could never openly support the rebellion.

"We have tried to rouse her, but her sleep is deep," Valsa, Bertel's wife, spoke up. "Umar advised us to simply wait."

"Probably for the best. I'll send word to the palace." The bearer of the Heart of Kandrakhar chose that moment to roll over and murmur in her sleep. Aldarn noticed the surprised looks on the faces of his kin.

"That is the most life she's shown since we brought her here," Valsa leaned forward, looking hopeful. She reached out to touch the girl's shoulder and gently shook her. "Can you hear me, child? Wake up."

OOOOOOOOOO

The human body is not physiologically equipped to remember pain. Will had read that somewhere, and she knew it from experience. One couldn't actually remember the pain of an injury after it had faded, and at the moment, she was profoundly grateful for that fact. All she knew was that she had never hurt so much in her life. The attack had come out of nowhere, and it had been all she could do to open a fold to escape. When she opened her eyes again, she was profoundly relieved to find she recognized a friendly face. "Aldarn?"

"Guardian," he sighed in relief. "I am glad to see you awake. How do you feel?"

"Give me a minute to take inventory and I'll let you know." She pushed herself into a sitting position and carefully stretched. No aches and pains. Good. There seemed to be no lingering after-effects of… whatever had hit her. Swinging her feet to the plank floor of the small bedroom she found herself in, she stood up. "I feel fine. Whatever it was doesn't seem to have done any real damage." The looks of profound relief on the faces of the other people in the room were a trifle embarrassing, so she decided to move on. "Um, where am I?"

"This is my cousin's farm. You appeared yesterday morning in the south field," Aldarn answered.

"Yesterday?" Alarm bells went off for her. "I was attacked on the street, in broad daylight. My mother may have seen it all!" She reached into her shirt and pulled out the Heart of Kandrakhar. "It had to be the sorceress. If she's willing to attack us in the open like that who knows what she'll do next. I should check on mom, but I need to speak to the Oracle." She frowned, uncertain of what to do.


	5. Explanations and Theories

EXPLANATIONS AND THEORIES

DISCLAIMER: I don't own the characters of BTVS or W.I.T.C.H. and I earn no profit in writing this.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: This takes place in the same continuity as 'I'm Done' but is not a sequel and stands alone quite well. If you have any comments or preferences, please don't be shy. RandR.

"Panicking isn't going to help, Susan." Dawn tried to calm the older woman.

"What will help?" Susan Vandom demanded. "You tell me my daughter is some kind of magic warrior, and because of it, she's likely been kidnapped or killed, but you're not sure which. What will help at this point?"

"We don't have a lot of facts right now," Dawn Summers responded. "There's no reason to assume the worst. I've called for a little magical assistance. She should be here soon."

"More magic, just what we need," Susan muttered.

"Would you rather wait for the police to start taking you seriously?" Susan winced at the memory and then glared at Maria. "Sorry, but Dawn is right. This really is the best chance we have."

"So you say," Susan shot back. "It was a spell you cast that started this." They had gathered at the Vandom's apartment. Susan was pacing the floor, worried sick. She tried to remain calm and think clearly, but it just wasn't working. There was too much new information on top of the worry. Magic? Demons? The world didn't make sense anymore.

"I have no idea what caused that," Maria insisted. "It couldn't have been the spell. All it was supposed to do was make her aura visible to my eyes, so I could learn if she was a slayer. It should have been no more dangerous to her than…than taking her picture."

"I heard the way she was screaming," Susan said with a shudder. "And that light! I thought she was on fire."

"She wasn't," Danielle reassured her. "Remember, there were no burn marks, no ashes. She was taken somewhere. Question is by who and why?"

"What about Matt?" Dawn asked. "He seems to know something about the local demon scene. Why isn't he here?"

"He said he would check on some things," Susan replied, forcing herself to sit. "I don't know whether to hope he knows what's going on or not. I don't want to think he had something to do with this or that he's been dragging Will into… demon trouble. He seemed like a nice boy."

"I can understand you not wanting Will involved in this life," Dawn said, setting aside the issue of Matt for the moment. "And if being left alone to have a normal life is what the two of you want, we'll leave you alone. Unfortunately, the bad guys might not be so accommodating. I know it sounds harsh, but if my guess about her is right, and someone or something has figured it out, that could explain why you were kidnapped and why she disappeared like that."

Susan stared at the floor for a time, not saying anything. "Even if I get her back safe, things aren't going to be the same, are they? There are things like that… M'fash-whatever out there who'll want to hurt her."

"First," Dawn said, putting a confidence into her voice that she didn't feel, "we are getting her back. Second. Nothing ever stays the same. There are always changes to adapt to. Yeah, if she has started attracting the wrong type of attention, things could get awkward, but you'll adapt, we all do. She'll still be your daughter regardless of whatever else she might be."

OOOOOOOOOO

The conversation with Hay Lin and her grandmother had been awkward and full of surprises for everyone. Elyon was gone; taken prisoner by the hag who had organized the Knights of Vengeance. The Guardians were, once again scattered and not by choice this time. Vacation was the last place any of them wanted to be under the circumstances.

"What about these strangers?" Hay Lin asked. "Do you think they work with the old witch?"

Matt shook his head. "I don't know. I don't think so, though. Weird as it is, I think its just coincidence that Mrs. Vandom and Miss Summers met that way."

"So do we talk to them?" Hay Lin glanced to her grandmother worriedly. "Maybe they know what made Will disappear."

"And maybe, they caused it," Yan Lin responded gently. "We know too little about them to trust. It was a very odd coincidence that Will's mother met them the way she did, and I do not believe it was a coincidence that they were on hand when Will vanished."

"I guess that is unlikely," Matt allowed, "but we don't have a lot of options. We may have to take the risk. I'm not saying we should be entirely up front with them or that we shouldn't take precautions, but they might not be enemies. They might know something that could help us find Will."

For a moment, the old woman said nothing, then sighed. "The Oracle agrees with you."

Matt sat forward, looking hopeful. "You've talked to him? Does he know what happened?"

"Only what you were able to tell me. He cannot divine her-"

"There's a shock," Matt broke in, startling the old woman as he rose and began to pace. "He doesn't know where Will is. He doesn't know who, let alone where the sorceress is. He doesn't know where Elyon is. When was the last time he told us anything useful?"

"Matt!" Hay Lin cried reproachfully. "I'm sure he's trying."

"All he's trying is my patience. Will could be anywhere!"

"She's probably on Meridian. That and Kandrakhar are the only places she's been."

"Then why hasn't she come home yet? She's probably hurt." He turned to Yan Lin. "Is there another way of getting to Meridian without the Heart or Blunk?"

"Hmm. Yes. I believe there is." She left the room for a few minutes and returned with a cloth wrapped object. "This should do the trick." Carefully unwrapping it, she lay a very familiar book on the table before them. Hay Lin took a step back.

"What's that doing here?"

"I got it from the book store after Cedric kidnapped Elyon. It is mystically linked to a counterpart on Meridian, forming an inversion point between the worlds, and will transport you there."

"I remember," Hay Lin sighed looking at the book, "and wasn't that a fun visit? Come on Matt. Let's go see what we can find out." She took his hand

"Wait. I should call Mrs. Vandom first, let her know we're going to be looking for Will." He pulled out his cell phone and dialed Will's home number. "Hello? Mrs. Vandom?"

OOOOOOOOOO

"Oh Matt! Thank goodness! Have you found Will? Do you know what happened?"

"Not yet, but we have a place to start looking. I wanted to check in and let you know you wouldn't be able to reach me for a while. Any word from those girls?"

"They're here now. They say that they cast a spell to try to learn something about Will." Out of the corner of her eye she saw Maria stiffen, but Dawn put a hand on her shoulder. "They wanted to look at her aura or something to find out if she was a slayer."

"What's a slayer?"

"Some kind of magic fighter who kills demons. They insist the spell was harmless though, like taking her picture."

"Hmm. I'll pass that along. What are they doing?"

"They've called for someone who knows more about magic. Matt, maybe you should bring your friend here. I don't think they meant any harm. Maybe if we put our heads together, we can figure out what happened."

"Maybe, but Will's been gone for hours. She could be hurt. I don't think we can delay searching for her. I'll call as soon as we get back."

OOOOOOOOOO

He closed the phone and turned to Yan Lin. "What's a slayer?"

The old woman shrugged. "No idea. What did she say?" Matt related the conversation to them. "Odd. There are old stories about demons and chosen warriors, but I always thought they were campfire stories or corruptions of tales of former guardians."

"Looks like that's not the case. Sounds like they could be the good guys. It doesn't change anything, though. We still have to get going."

"Right," Hay Lin nodded. "Come on." She took his hand and they both grabbed the book.

OOOOOOOOOO

"I'm not sure that was a good idea," Maria ventured. "How much do you know about Matt's friends?"

"A little less than I know about you," Susan admitted.

Maria glanced away from Susan, unable to meet her eyes for a moment. "Okay. Good point. We are trying, but I just want you to be safe. We still don't know why you were kidnapped."

"What we do know," Dawn broke in, "is that Matt knows more than he's saying." She sighed. "I didn't say anything before because I hoped to avoid making you aware of… our problems. He didn't show up to rescue you alone. There was a demon with him of a type I've never seen before. That demon used a mystical artifact to open some sort of dimensional rift." She had Susan Vandom's attention. "The demon that kidnapped you was working on commission. He was hired to kidnap both of us. We know they were separate contracts, but that's all we know. The M'Fashnik isn't being very forthcoming." She sighed. "I'm sorry I didn't say so sooner, but Matt asked me not to, and I wanted him to come forward about it himself."

"What was the demon with Matt doing?"

"The M'Fashnik had arrived with another demon, some kind of troll like creature. The only reason I got out was that it opened the wrong door. Matt's friend, he called himself Blunk, dropped the A/C vent on the thing's head and knocked it out. Then he took the big creature away through the rift before Matt let you out. He had intended that you never see any of that."

"But he did come there to rescue me," it was a statement.

"Oh, yes. That was his motivation. I'm just not sure about his friends."

"Not all demons are evil, but it's better to be cautious," Maria told her.

"I've known some perfectly nice demons," Dawn assured her. "My sister knew a couple she trusted enough to baby-sit me when I was young. This Blunk guy could be harmless, but Maria is right. It is better to be careful."

Before Susan could decide how to respond to this, there was a knock at the door and she went to answer it. A redheaded woman waited outside, smiling. "Hi. Susan Vandom?"

"Yes."

"I'm Willow Rosenberg. Dawn called me."

"Um, yes, come in. She says you can help find my daughter." The redhead gave her a quizzical look.

"Dawn didn't give me a lot of details, just said that it was urgent." It didn't take long for her to get caught up, with each of those present describing events as they saw them. Willow sat back on the couch and thought carefully for a moment. "Weird. The spell certainly didn't do that! Not directly anyway."

"What do you mean, 'not directly'?" Susan asked, still having trouble with the entire idea of magic.

"I'll need to have a magical looksee at the scene, but it could be the locator spell triggered something that was already in place, like a booby-trap."

"Someone booby-trapped my daughter?" Susan sounded incredulous, which Willow could understand. It was a stretch, especially for someone who was still skeptical about magic.

"You're having a hard time with all of this, aren't you? Would you like to see proof of magic?"

"That would be a beginning," Susan admitted. "Going to pull a rabbit out of a hat?"

Willow rolled her eyes. "I think I can do better." She glanced around the room and saw a small vase with a single rose that Dean had given her. "May I?" Susan nodded. "This is a simple meditation exercise, but it should do." Willow concentrated. The flower rose out of the vase and came to float in front of Susan, glowing slightly. One by one, the petals were stripped from the rose until only the stem was left and the petals floated around it as if they were planets orbiting their star. "Will that do?"

Susan nodded mutely.

"I'm gonna have a look at the scene and see if I can figure out what happened." She rose and went to the window when Dawn waved her over.

"Right down there. We didn't find any traces remaining, no ash or anything like that, which suggests a transportation spell of some sort." Willow nodded thoughtfully.

"Let's get started then." From the large purse she'd arrived with, she removed several candles and two small jars. She glanced down at the carpet. "Mmm. You'd probably prefer it if we did this in the kitchen." Working quickly, with the ease of long practice, she made a circle on the floor, and set the candles at seemingly random points around it. "Maria? I'll need you to anchor me. I'm taking a little trip to the astral plane."

Susan didn't know what to expect, but found that she was under-whelmed by the spectacle. After joining hands across the circle, both chanted for a bit before passing out. She turned to Dawn. "This is supposed to help?"

"Not all magic is flashy. I know how it must look," Dawn tried to sound reassuring, "but they know what they're doing."

"I hope so."

For twenty minutes, neither girl stirred, although, Willow would occasionally murmur something indistinguishable. Then, both sat up, looking somewhat puzzled. "That was… odd." Willow scrambled to her feet. "Okay. I didn't expect that, but it doesn't alter the situation."

"What?" Susan demanded. "What is it?"

Taking a deep breath, Willow began to explain. "It was the locator spell that hurt her, but not for the reason any of us guessed. It somehow interacted badly with her own magic, causing a kind of… feedback for lack of a better word."

"Her own magic? Will doesn't have any magic!"

"But she does," Willow insisted. "I've never seen anything quite like it, either. Its part of her, woven through her very being. It looks like it should be dormant, though, at least on its own."

"What do you mean?" Dawn asked before Susan could.

"Does Will have any… special possessions? Something she always keeps with her? Maybe a bit of jewelry, a ring or a necklace?"

Susan was confused, but considered the question. "Yes, actually. She's got this necklace she wears. Kind of pretty, but a bit gaudy. I'm not sure where she got it, but it's just a bit of cheap costume jewelry."

"It's serving as some kind of amplifier and at the same time, channeling energy into her from an outside source. I'm not sure of the details. The only thing that's clear is that that girl is carrying around a heckuva lot of mojo."

"That…that can't be right," Susan protested. "Will's not a witch or anything."

"Probably not," Willow agreed. "This is something entirely different. It explains… well sort of… what happened. Think of it like a bad drug reaction. Doctors always tell you not to mix certain types of medication. Well, it's the same with magic."

"So why did she disappear? Where is she?"

"That," Willow admitted, "I don't know. She used the amulet she carries to open a spatial fold and slip away. I couldn't track her."

"But it was something she did herself, right?" Dawn asked. Willow nodded. "So she probably thought she was under attack and escaped. She wasn't kidnapped, she went on her own."

"So where is she now?" her mother demanded. "Why hasn't she come home?"

"She may be recovering from the effect of the spell," Willow suggested. "From what I could sense, and what Maria and Danielle said, it must've hurt a lot. She probably transported herself somewhere safe to recover."

"I hope that's the case," Susan nodded, "but I still want to find her as soon as possible."

"I'm sorry," Willow said sincerely, "but I have nothing to go on. There are an infinite number of dimensions and even narrowing it down could take weeks. I'm sure she won't stay away that long."

"I don't seem to have many options," Susan gritted out. "I can't do anything but hope that Matt finds her. He said he would be out of touch for a while, that he was going to look for Will."

"He can create rifts?" Willow asked.

"Or get his little demon friend to do it for him," Dawn answered. She sighed. "We really don't know enough. This is all just speculation, and I'd still like to know more about that pixie who throws lightning bolts."

Willow looked curiously around the group at that, but decided not to ask. "One thing at a time," she advised. "There may be something we can do." She turned to Susan. "Magic can leave traces behind, echoes, residue; depends on the type and concentration. I might be able to learn more about Will's magic if I do a little testing here in your apartment. I just need to find the right way to 'look' around."


	6. Searching

SEARCHING

DISCLAIMER: I don't own the characters of BTVS or W.I.T.C.H. and I earn no profit in writing this.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: This takes place in the same continuity as 'I'm Done' but is not a sequel and stands alone quite well. If you have any comments or preferences, please don't be shy. RandR.

"This can't be a coincidence," the Mage declared, when Matt had finished his story. "An attack on Earth, in front of witnesses is a disturbing turn of events indeed."

"I'm not convinced it was an attack," Matt allowed. "It may have been an accident of some kind. Something went wrong with their spell, maybe?"

"Perhaps, but Will's disappearance, under these circumstances serves the sorceress' ends too well. The Heart of Kandrakhar is missing leaving the other Guardians powerless."

"She'd have to find them first," Matt assured her. "They and their families are scattered at the moment."

"And thus no threat to our enemy. Let us hope she agrees. In the meantime, I will begin a search for her using my own means. It should prove quicker than sending out search parties to every corner of the kingdom. " She considered. "How long has she been missing?"

Matt looked at his watch and considered a moment. "Almost four hours. Will's mom called me barely an hour after it happened, and I went straight to Hay Lin."

"Excellent. The less time wasted, the better." She turned to Elyon's parents. "I would suggest keeping this secret. The abduction of the queen has unsettled the people enough. If it is learned that Heart of Kandrakhar and its bearer are missing, there may be a panic."

Elyon's mother nodded faintly, distractedly. "Very well Mage. We shall leave the search to you."

"But the more people who search, the better chance of finding her!" Matt pointed out.

"And if the sorceress is not responsible for her disappearance? The more people who know, the better chance she has of finding out and turning the situation to her advantage." Matt hesitated and finally nodded. "I know you are worried," the Mage continued, "but I promise, I will do my best to find her quickly."

OOOOOOOOOO

Nerissa was nothing if not adaptable. Her plans had been disrupted by unforeseen circumstances, but the most important goal had been achieved. The Heart of Meridian was hers. The Council had become aware of that fact sooner than she would have liked, but the disappearance of Will and the Heart opened up a new range of possibilities, especially if she could find the missing Guardian first.

There were certain magical means of tracking people at her disposal, but the most obvious solution was the Stone of Threbe, lifted from Elyon's palace along with a few other choice items. When the stone was activated, Will would be drawn to her, and it would have the added benefit of interfering with anyone else who might try to find her. Nerissa allowed herself a smile. An elegant solution, indeed.

She abandoned her guise as the Mage as soon as she returned to her current base of operations to retrieve the Stone from its hiding place. "See you soon, Will."


	7. Coming Together

COMING TOGETHER

DISCLAIMER: I don't own the characters of BTVS or W.I.T.C.H. and I earn no profit in writing this.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: This takes place in the same continuity as 'I'm Done' but is not a sequel and stands alone quite well. If you have any comments or preferences, please don't be shy. RandR.

A frustrated Matt and Hay Lin returned to the Silver Dragon with Blunk's help. "I am worried, as well," Yan Lin assured them, "but there is little that we can do. We will have to wait for the Mage to find Will. She is very capable."

"I know, but I hate waiting while Will is in trouble. I hate not knowing."

"There's gotta be something we can do, gramma!"

The former air guardian nodded sympathetically. There was nothing she could say that would make it any easier on them. She had been in the same position herself far too many times to have any illusions about that. Reassurances just came out sounding hollow or patronizing. A distraction was better. "Why don't you call Will's mom? She's probably frantic by now."

"She'll want answers, y'know," Matt pointed out. "A full explanation, probably." Yan Lin sighed and nodded. "How much can I say? I don't really think I can lie to her anymore."

It was a difficult question, but she already knew what the answer had to be. Deceit had never been one of her strengths, and the lies Matt had already told couldn't really be supported, especially if the strangers had brought in a magic user of their own. "I will come with you." The Council, she suspected, would not be pleased, but the circumstances were highly unusual.

OOOOOOOOOO

Willow Rosenberg was arguing with a toaster. It had been a one-sided conversation that had causing Susan to doubt the younger woman's sanity until a second spell allowed Dawn, the two Slayers, and herself to hear the voices around them. "This is surreal," she muttered, eyeing her daughter's cell phone warily. _No wonder she's always leaving that thing behind_.

"Have an apple," the refrigerator suggested. "I find food is good for frazzled nerves."

"Um, thanks. Maybe later." She took a step toward the witch. "Willow?" She spread her hands and glanced around questioningly at her talking appliances. Willow gave her a look that plainly said that she was just as baffled and shrugged.

"I've never seen anything like it. It's not demonic possession. They're not household spirits. Anything in the apartment that runs on electricity is just…alive."

"This is creepy," Danielle muttered. "I don't know which is worse. Listening to them or knowing they're like this and not being able to hear them." Susan agreed with the sentiment, wondering if these things posed any kind of threat. She guessed not, as Will never seemed worried. It did explain why she'd taken to yelling at the microwave, though.

A knock at the door caused Susan to jump slightly and look around at the talking appliances in concern. "Willow?"

"They won't hear a thing. Go answer the door." Susan opened the door to find Matt, Hay Lin, and Yan Lin waiting outside.

"Did you find her? Where-?"

"We didn't find her," Matt interrupted as they entered the apartment, "but we got a search started. Meridian is a big place and another set of eyes wouldn't make much difference, so we came back to tell you what we'd learned."

"We've learned some interesting things, too."

Susan's cryptic comment went unexplained for the moment as they all settled around the living room and introductions were made.

"We talked to some friends in the place we think Will went," Matt began.

"Meridian, you called it?"

"That's right." He saw Susan glance at the redheaded woman who shook her head slightly, probably indicating that she'd never heard of it. This wasn't going to be easy. He'd arranged a conference call with all of the Guardians and they had, after briefly panicking over Will's disappearance, agreed that their secret was of secondary importance if the strangers could help. "Meridian is having its own problems right now. It makes finding Will fast even more important."

"What do you mean?" Susan asked, not giving Willow or the others a chance to speak. She wanted him to make assumptions and talk freely, the better to fill her in on what was going on. She already knew he had lied to her, or at least withheld the truth. It didn't make her happy, but she had the impression he was trying to protect Will rather than himself. He wasn't trying to cover up some crime against her daughter. That made her feel slightly better about Matt's intentions, but called into question the judgment of everyone who knew about the demon situation. _Why would anyone in their right minds involve children in something so dangerous?_ She glanced at Hay Lin's grandmother and wondered.

"Well… First, I should tell you…"

"You didn't tell me everything before? Exactly how involved in this demon business is my daughter?"

"I actually got involved in this so I could help her; look out for her if I could." He grimaced at the memory of how well that worked out. "She doesn't really need much looking out for. It's kind of a complicated story, and parts of it really should come from Will. I'm not trying to get out of it, but if you don't mind, I'd kind of like to skip ahead to the current crisis."

"Okay," Susan answered reluctantly, "but I _will_ get the whole story." Matt nodded, as did Yan Lin and Hay Lin.

"The queen of Meridian was kidnapped recently. Will… well, Will is a friend of hers and actually helped to put her on the throne to begin with. Long story. Will would definitely want to help her friend, and… well she could help, if she wasn't missing."

"You think someone will try to prevent that?" Willow asked. It was a beginning, but there were still so many unanswered questions.

"Yeah, and Will is the perfect target." He glanced at Yan Lin who nodded and stood to tell her part. She tried to hide her discomfort at suddenly being the center of attention. This had always been a possibility, and she had dreaded it. They had 'dodged the bullet' with Cassidy, allowing her family to believe her death had been a freak accident, but her conscience still stung about that. She just hoped that she wouldn't have to carry similar news to Susan Vandom. Whether it would be easier for Susan if she knew the truth, Yan Lin honestly didn't know.

"Will is the leader of the Guardians. It is through her that the abilities of the others are magnified, and their power increased three-fold or more."

"What others? And what power precisely?" Willow interrupted.

"The Guardians, of whom my granddaughter is one, wield the power of the five elements, earth, air, water, fire, and quintescence."

"Quintescence?" Susan asked, not having heard the word before.

"Essentially, electricity, but it's much more than that. It is basic life-force."

"Well," Willow mused, "that would explain the appliances."

"You can hear them?" Hay Lin asked; her interest piqued. "I thought only Guardians could hear them."

Willow shrugged. "A simple spell. Are you saying you can't access your magic without Will?"

"Not exactly," the girl hedged. "We can do some things." Hay Lin promptly vanished.

OOOOOOOOOO

Nerissa opened the box and withdrew the stone. "Perfect." A sign sketched in the air and a word in an ancient language were all that was required. "Come to me, Will." The stone glowed brightly for a second and vanished, on its way.

OOOOOOOOOO

"I can make myself invisible, see?" the thirteen year old chirped happily.

"Nope," Willow shook her head with a slight smile. "We don't." Hay Lin giggled.

"And then, just by wanting it, I can be visible again!" Everyone stared expectantly at the approximate source of the voice.

"Will you be wanting to be visible anytime soon?" Susan asked, feeling her grip on reality slipping fast. There was a moment of silence.

"Uh-oh."

"'Uh-oh?'" Willow echoed. "What's wrong?"

"I can't turn it off! Gramma, help!"

"Calm yourself, granddaughter," the previous air guardian advised. "It should be a matter of will. If it is not working…" She paused and concentrated a moment. "I cannot access my abilities either." She frowned, thinking fast. "The last time something like this happened-"

"The Stone of Threbe!" Hay Lin finished. "Could the Mage be using that to find Will?"

"Possibly," Yan Lin allowed, "but why would it interfere with us?"

"Excuse me?" Dawn interrupted. "What are you talking about?"

"The Stone of Threbe," Yan Lin explained, "is a talisman that will summon one who is lost and guide them home. It will also render powerless anything that might hinder the lost one's progress towards their goal. If it is the Stone blocking our powers then-"

"Then maybe the Mage doesn't have it!" Her granddaughter exclaimed. "Maybe the hag who kidnapped Elyon has it!" Her enthusiasm at having made the deduction vanished instantly. "Oh. That's bad."


	8. Coming Together and Splitting Up

COMING TOGETHER AND SPLITTING UP

DISCLAIMER: I don't own the characters of BTVS or W.I.T.C.H. and I earn no profit in writing this.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: This takes place in the same continuity as 'I'm Done' but is not a sequel and stands alone quite well. If you have any comments or preferences, please don't be shy. RandR.

Will had been wandering for some time. She had started out in Aldarn's company, but she wasn't sure where he was now. Ever since she'd awakened, she had felt drawn toward something. The pull had been vague at first, and she was barely aware of it. The pull had grown stronger, though, and her plans to go to Kandrakhar had evaporated, as had her worries about her mother. Will wasn't sure where she was going, or why. She just knew she had to keep moving. The unfamiliar weight on her chest caused her to glance down. The odd necklace with the green stone bothered her for some reason, but she wasn't sure why. Her concerns evaporated, and she kept walking.

She hadn't seen anyone in the time she'd been walking, which seemed odd. She knew there was a village less than half a mile from her current course, and she had passed thee farmhouses. Yet, she hadn't seen anyone. The road was deserted when it should have been busy. Will didn't wonder about this. She just kept walking.

OOOOOOOOOO

"We need to find her," Willow agreed, "before this sorceress does, but at the moment, I'm kind of stuck for a way to do that."

"It we got you to Meridian, could you find her?" Matt offered.

"I think so, but the way the last spell cast on her went wonky…. I'm kinda wondering if I should."

"It's got to be better than doing nothing," Susan declared. "If we do nothing, this sorceress gets her, and we know what will happen. You have to try! What's the worst that could happen?" Four sets of eyes swiveled to stare at her with shock and a little fear. "What?"

OOOOOOOOOO

The fold closed behind them, and Susan looked around curiously. She was really on another planet, one ruled by her daughter's friend from school, Elyon Brown. Things could be stranger, she supposed, but she didn't give voice to the thought, not after the bizarre reaction Dawn and the others had had to her earlier question. Instead, she asked, "what now?" She tried to keep the impatience out of her voice as she had tried for the last day and a half while they made preparations. Willow had been unwilling to just jump to another world with the contents of her purse. She wanted to be prepared for as many contingencies as possible. Susan couldn't fault her for it, but the delay had chafed.

"Now," Willow answered, "we do a locator spell. Just finding her isn't interfering and-"

"OW!"

"What?" Willow jumped back a bit.

"You stepped on my foot," Hay Lin complained as she hopped around. "You know, if I'm stuck like this just 'cause I might interfere, why do you think your locator spell will work?" This question had been raised before, and the redheaded witch still didn't have a good answer despite her research. Giles had found references to the Guardians of the Veil and Meridian, but there was nothing concrete, mostly conjecture and a few second hand cautionary tales about strange interactions between different types of magic. Dawn had stayed behind to continue the research, keeping the smelly creature with her in case she turned up something and needed to reach them quickly.

Willow repressed a sigh and put as much confidence into her voice as she could. "My magic seems to be working fine. I think it's because our magics are so different. The weird way they interact may cause problems for the locator spell or it may not. One way to find out."

She looked around the countryside. They had emerged at the top of a hill overlooking a large village and Elyon's palace was visible beyond it. It looked like a fairy tale setting, and Willow found herself smiling at the sight of it. "Very 'Brothers Grimm'," she allowed. "No wonder you guys are so protective of this place."

"Meridian has the potential to be a paradise," Yan Lin agreed, "with the right person on the throne." She led the way to a flat area at the crown of the hill. "This should do for setting up the spell." Willow gave the spot a critical look and nodded.

"Let's get started."

It took half-an-hour of careful preparation as Willow reviewed every detail and tested what aspects of the spell she could to look for signs of interference. Finally, she was ready. "Here's the thing," she said to the others. "Since this stone of Threbe might interfere with the magic, I'm going to have to interfere with it first. I've prepared two spells; the first should weaken the pull the stone exerts. The problem is that I don't really know how the stone works…in a mystical sense. I mean saying that it draws a lost person to it is sorta like saying a microwave cooks food. Not a lot of information there. I had to make the spell real general so it's hard to tell what effect it will have."

"Will it hurt Will?" Susan demanded.

"No. I don't think so. I could layer in a protection charm, but the Stone of Threbe is already providing protection. I don't wanna complicate things too much. The second part, the tracking spell should work just fine. It's just a pointer, really."

"As with machines," Maria supplied, "so with magic. The simpler it is the less that can go wrong."

Willow nodded, but Susan looked dubious.

"I guess we don't have a lot of choice, but wasn't that spell to look at Will's aura pretty simple?"

The witch and slayer traded nervous glances. "The theory is sound," Willow finally answered, "but there are no guarantees."

Susan worried silently for a moment, but was forced to admit that she had no better ideas. "Let's get on with it, then."

OOOOOOOOOO

Will had walked until she was exhausted and had then fallen asleep by the side of the road. She never knew how long; an hour, three, a day, but she woke suddenly when something changed. The pull was still there. She had felt it even while asleep. Now, however, it was different, and it took a moment to figure out what had changed.

Taking a moment to orient herself, she started off in a new direction, and then stopped. The pull had been drawing her steadily northeast and now she was headed due west. The fog in her mind lifted long enough for her to find that strange. She started off in the new direction, but stopped again when the pull shifted, this time to the south. It then shifted back to the east. Will wasn't aware enough to be confused, but she was starting to get dizzy when the pull did something that penetrated the fog again. It split. The pull to the northeast was back, but there was now an equally strong pull to the west.

Will stood undecided as both became more insistent, finally growing painful. Gritting her teeth against that pain and trying to focus, to understand what was happening, she suddenly felt something give way inside her and the conflict was resolved. She rose to her feet and started walking northeast again. The westward pull had entirely vanished. A sound made her start and glance over her shoulder.

Walking off toward the west, her head turned to glance back and wearing a startled expression that mirrored her own, was Will Vandom.


	9. Is Anyone Else Confused?

IS ANYONE ELSE CONFUSED?

DISCLAIMER: I don't own the characters of BTVS or W.I.T.C.H. and I earn no profit in writing this.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: This takes place in the same continuity as 'I'm Done' but is not a sequel and stands alone quite well. If you have any comments or preferences, please don't be shy. RandR.

She hummed as she walked along the road, not having any real notion of where she was going, but happy to be moving again without pain or that bizarre tug-of-war she seemed to have been the focus of. Something about the way that had resolved itself troubled her, but she couldn't quite remember what it was. The humming also seemed odd, not simply because it was a strange thing to be doing under the circumstances, but because she could not immediately place the tune.

Will could only muster a vague sense of unease about her situation, rather than the full-blown panic she felt she should be experiencing. _And what_ is _that tune?_

That question occupied her until something more interesting came into view. Six people appeared, at first as barely distinguishable figures on the horizon and then as somewhat familiar figures. Three of them were definitely known to her. Too happy to see them to worry about consequences, she rushed forward to meet them.

As she moved closer, the fog suddenly lifted from her mind and a number of pertinent facts hit home immediately. Unfortunately, something else hit her at the same time.

"Oh thankgoodnessyou'reokay!Weweresoworriedthe-"

"AAAHHH!!!!" Will began to flail as something unseen threw itself at her and wrapped her in a pair of thin, but surprisingly strong arms. Backpedaling in an attempt to get away, she only succeeded in tripping over her own feet and the unseen feet of her assailant.

"Oh! Sorrysorrysorry! I forgot I'm still invisible." Will sat up, staring at the source of the voice.

"Hay Lin?"

"Yeah, it's me. Sorry. I'm just excited to see you're alright!" The two untangled themselves, Hay Lin's invisibility complicating matters in unexpected ways. "Ow! That's my hair!"

By the time they got to their feet, the others had reached them. Will's face lit up at the sight of her mother. "Mom! I'm so glad to see you!"

"Likewise, honey," her mother answered, taken aback by the enthusiastic greeting. "Are you alright?" She pushed her daughter back and examined her at arm's length, checking for damage.

"I'm fine," she assured them and then turned to Matt to give him a hug as well. "It's great all of you came after me, but could someone fill me in? I've been kinda out of it." She glanced at the two teenage girls and the red-headed woman. Matt hastened to make introductions and then began to fill in the blanks for his girlfriend. What they knew and what they had deduced. They finished with a description of the spells Willow had cast to disrupt the affect of the Stone of Threbe and to find her. "Wow," Will breathed when she had taken it all in. "I'm _really_ glad you came after me."

Matt blinked and stared at her in growing confusion. Will wasn't reacting as he had expected, and something just seemed off. "Are you sure you're alright?"

"Yeah," Hay Lin put in, "you seem really cheerful."

"Why wouldn't I be? I'm me again, my own person, not just a…OH! Will!" She turned to the others, wide eyed. "We have to go after her; she went the other way, following that other pull."

Her response was a collective blank stare.

Will huffed impatiently. "I split up to follow both pulls which was… just weird. Not that I'm complaining, mind you," she hastened to add. "I love being real again, but we have to go after Will. She went the other way!"

"Uh, honey," her mother stepped forward and placed a hand on her forehead. "Are you sure you're feeling alright?"

"Yeah," Willow added, "cause you're making a lot of… not sense."

"There was just one pull at first," Will explained patiently, "no doubt the stone, then another one started, the one that stopped when I saw you guys." She looked at the witch, "Your spell, right?" Willow nodded, although puzzled that her locator would 'pull' at the subject of the spell. "I couldn't follow both, and it was really starting to hurt, then something sort of went 'snap' and I was out. I went one way; she went the other. Simple. Weird, but simple."

Susan Vandom turned to Willow with look of stark confusion. The witch shook her head. "Nuh-uh! There is no way my locator spell could have caused THAT."

"Wait a minute," Hay Lin's voice emerged from thin air next to her, causing Willow to jump slightly. "Your 'own person?' 'Real again?' I know who you are! You're the altamere. But I don't get it. I thought you were dead."

"Yeah," Will nodded, then shuddered. "That was unpleasant."

"What are you talking about?" Susan shouted to get their attention. She didn't understand much, but she was fairly certain she had just heard her daughter say she had died at some point.

"It's okay, mom," her daughter gave her another hug.

"Okay?" Matt interrupted looking as if he were completely lost and not liking it one bit. "You just said you died! And that you're… not you?' He stepped forward and stared at her intently, looking for differences. "What is this about, Will? What's an altamere? What are you?"

"I'll explain everything, but we gotta hurry." The altamere turned away, trying to hide the hurt, pushing aside personal concerns in order to focus on the current crisis. "Come on, listen while we walk." Not waiting for them, she turned and headed off the way she had come. After a moment, the group got itself moving.

"I'll start," Hay Lin offered. "I know it's kind of a touchy subject for you." The altamere nodded. "There are times when, as Guardians, we need to get away unnoticed for a while. That can be kind of hard, so we have this spell that lets us create astral drops, sort of temporary copies of ourselves. The astral drops can be left in the park or in our rooms or wherever we need to be. Handy. Well there was this one time, when Will needed to be in two places at once. Minor emergency. I won't bore you with the details," she offered, her words coming faster than normal. Yan Lin glanced toward the source of the voice and wondered what sort of trouble the girls had been getting into when she wasn't watching.

"So, Will made an astral drop. What none of us knew was that the hag was watching her. As soon as Will left, she went to the astral drop and did a little mojo, changed it… I mean her… into an altamere."

"Which is?" Willow asked.

"Basically, a better copy," Yan Lin supplied.

"Gramma!" Hay Lin reprimanded glancing at Will, who had stiffened at those words. "That's not nice." She looked back at Susan. "Really, there's more to it. An altamere, unlike a drop, has all of the original's memories and feelings, is real. Alive in a way a drop isn't." She walked a little faster to catch up with the copy of her friend. "She's just as much Will as the original."

"Didn't you say she died?" Maria asked, getting the story back on track.

"Yeah… well… You see the old hag tried to convince her that the original Will was a threat to her, that she would kill her. Things got kinda confused before we got it all straightened out. When the hag, who was watching from the shadows all creepy stalker-like, realized they weren't going to do away with each other, she attacked. Will…uh… this Will, shoved the original out of the way and took the hit for her." She shuddered. "Lightning bolt. Looked like it really hurt."

"Didn't tickle," the altamere provided without turning around. The stress in her voice made Susan frown in concern. She knew that tone and hated hearing it; it meant her little girl was hurting, using sarcasm to hide her feelings.

"Y-you saved my daughter's life?" Susan asked, still trying to sort out the explanation in her own mind, but fairly certain that this wasn't her daughter, regardless of how much she looked and sounded like Will. She wasn't sure how to feel about that.

"Of course," the altamere stopped and turned to face her. "It's what sisters do, isn't it?"

"There wasn't anything we could do for her," Hay Lin continued, "but Will decided she had to save something. So she used the Heart of Kandrakhar to absorb… her into herself, so she could keep her memories alive. I guess she kept more than that alive, though."

Susan Vandom stared at the copy of her daughter, conflicted in ways that, only an hour ago, she could never have imagined. What was she supposed to do? The copy was waiting for her to react, but she couldn't. She didn't know how. Finally, she sighed. "I…don't know how to deal with this, and we have more important things to worry about, don't we?"

The altamere looked unhappy, but she nodded. "Okay, but I want you safe." She looked at the others. "Can you get her home before-"

"Forget it," Susan cut her off. "I want my daughter back, and I'm getting her."

"Mom! This is dangerous."

"Exactly," Susan countered.

"I don't want to have to worry about you if it comes to a fight. Please."

"At least," Willow interrupted, having already lost this argument with the older woman, "hang back out of sight. The sorceress might attack you to distract us."

Susan couldn't argue with that logic. She nodded. "I will, but I need to know what's happening."

That, it seemed, was as much as she was willing to do, and the altamere decided to leave it at that. There was no time to take her home anyway. None of them knew how close the sorceress might be, and at her urging, everyone picked up the pace. She would have preferred to transform and fly, but Will had the Heart, and she doubted it would have worked anyway. She tried to shove worries about her… Will's… mother… to the back of her mind. She didn't even glance at Matt, not wanting to see the look on his face. _Don't think about it._ There would be time to sort all of that out later.

"Question," Maria said, drawing their attention. "How do we find her? I don't think we should try the tracking spell again and beyond the point where you, ah, split up, how do we follow her?"

That brought everyone up short. "How do we find her, then?" Susan asked, trying to keep the panic out of her voice.

"I think I know a way," Hay Lin answered after a moment's consideration.


	10. Out of The Biz

OUT OF THE BIZ

DISCLAIMER: I don't own the characters of BTVS or W.I.T.C.H. and I earn no profit in writing this.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: This takes place in the same continuity as 'I'm Done' but is not a sequel and stands alone quite well. If you have any comments or preferences, please don't be shy. RandR.

"Do we have time for this?" Susan asked as they made their way through the village near the castle. They had backtracked quite a ways in order to get there.

"Do we have time to wander aimlessly?" Willow countered.

"I think this guy can help us," Hay Lin told them. "He's got ways of knowing things. I-I don't really understand them, but he's got ways."

"I remember," Mina nodded. Mina. That still sounded strange. Still, it made things less confusing. Her full name was Wilhelmina Vandom, but she never used the last part. If it helped to distinguish her from the original Will, though, and gave her mother one less thing to worry about, then she'd use it. That didn't mean she liked it. It was the way Susan flinched every time someone called her Will that had led the altamere to suggest it in the first place and to put it forward as a way of avoiding confusion. The newly christened Mina did her best to hide it, but Susan's relieved, almost grateful, expression had been like a punch in the stomach.

Her mother was enough to deal with. She was glad, but equally hurt, that Matt had taken the first opportunity to leave. He and Maria, one of the Slayers, _and what's a Slayer? _had headed for the palace to bring Caleb up to date and get some back up. _He couldn't wait to get away from me_, she thought morosely. It wasn't just an excuse, she knew, but she couldn't help but notice that he had jumped at the opportunity to leave.

"So tell us about this guy," Danielle pressed, and Mina focused on the business at hand. Eventually, she and Will would have to sort out their lives and deal with the issues their 'separation' had created, but for the moment, she could get away with not thinking about it.

"He's not from Meridian," Mina answered. "He moved here from Earth a few months before Phobos was defeated, looking for a fresh start. He runs a tavern called the Respite. I think his name is Lorne."

"Lorne?" Willow frowned, thoughtfully. "That wouldn't be Krevlornswath of the Deathwok Clan?"

Mina shrugged. "I dunno. Green skin, red horns, loud clothes, you know him?"

"That's him," the witch nodded. "I only met him once. He…he used to fight alongside an old friend of mine. We wondered what had happened to him."

Mina and Hay Lin were quiet for a time, remembering what Lorne had told them. "I think that's his story to tell," Mina answered evasively, "but he might be able to help us."

"I just hope we don't have to get him drunk first," Hay Lin put in. "We really don't have time." Mina winced. Hay Lin was sweet, and wouldn't intentionally hurt or embarrass someone, but she had a way of speaking without thinking. As expected, the comment drew startled looks from everyone, and since no one knew quite where the Air Guardian was, they looked at her instead.

"Drunk?" Yan Lin queried.

"Well, um…" she sighed and plunged ahead. She had been hoping to avoid this. The story would only worry her mother. It wasn't the best time for a reminder of how dangerous their work was. "Lorne and the people he used to work with, Angel, Wes, um, Fred, and a few others got into something they couldn't handle. They…" She glanced at Susan, who nodded expectantly. "The others didn't make it. After his friends were… gone, he retired from the hero business. He warned us about Phobos' plans for Elyon, but that was all he would do, and he had to get really drunk before he'd do that much."

Taking a moment to digest this, Susan asked, "and this guy is our best shot?"

"If we had Blunk, we could do better," Hay Lin ventured. "He puts bloodhounds to shame."

Hay Lin pushed open the door to the Respite and began calling for the host. Yan Lin took the opportunity to sit down, not being as young as she once was. They had managed to procure a ride with a group of farmers headed to market. The men had been convinced to push their horses hard, but they still moved much too slowly for anyone's tastes. Yan Lin and the two Guardians had tried teletransporting, but were unsurprised to find that nothing happened.

Susan barely noticed her surroundings; too distracted by worry and frustrated by the time the search was taking. She was caught by surprise when Hay Lin's shouts got a response.

"I'm here. I'm here." A disgruntled looking creature in a bright red bathrobe thrown on over maroon and green striped pajamas, shuffled into the room. "What's the ruckus?"

"We need your help," Hay Lin answered. The host blinked sleepily and looked around.

"Is there a ventriloquist in the house?"

"She's invisible," Mina answered, "but that's not the problem. We were hoping you could help us find someone."

"If it's the queen, I've tried." Lorne shook his head. "No one has come in who had anything to do with it."

"It's my daughter," Susan broke in, stepping forward, a little hesitantly. She had seen several varieties of non-human since arriving on Meridian, but she hadn't had to speak to them. Had never been forced to deal directly with the notion that she was surrounded by aliens and on an alien world. She knew she wasn't prejudiced. Skin color had never bothered her, nor had religion, but the individual before her now wasn't just a different race, he was a different species. The others seemed to take it all in stride. As she had with so many other aspects of the bizarre situation, she pushed aside her uneasiness and addressed the creature. "I need to find her."

Lorne cocked his head to one side, examining the woman for a moment and then pointed at Mina. "Found her."

Susan closed her eyes for a second, a pained expression crossing her face. "That's not…the daughter I meant," she hastily corrected herself. She still wasn't ready to deal with that situation, but there was no need to hurt the girl's feelings. "Will is missing, and we think the woman who took Elyon is behind it. Hay Lin thought you might be able to help."

Lorne considered the question for a time. Why couldn't people just leave him alone? All he wanted was to live a quiet life away from the biz. He was no champion. _Didn't I prove that when I abandoned my friends in L.A._? All too often since that awful day, he had wished he'd died with them.

He wasn't dead, though, and try as he might; he couldn't turn these people away. Reaching the only decision his battered conscience would allow; he took a deep breath. "All right. Who wants to sing for me?"

--

Explaining _that_ request had taken time, but eventually, Mina had stepped up and sung an old children's song in a passable voice. Lorne had watched her aura and listened as she figuratively, metaphorically, and metaphysically bared her soul.

_And an interesting soul it is_, Lorne reflected as he took in the images and impressions. The child was far more than she knew. The conflicting magics involved in her creation, destruction, and recreation had produced something quite remarkable. Even he couldn't see where this might lead, but the kid was in for an interesting ride.

That lay in the future, however. At the moment, there was a crisis that needed a resolution. "Yep. That's your gal. Sorceress goes by Nerissa. She's got the queen, and she'll have your daughter soon. You don't have much time."

"Where is she?" Yan Lin demanded, looking unaccountably shaken. "Where is Nerissa?"

Lorne regarded her sympathetically for a moment before rising. "I'll get a map."


	11. Endings  and Beginnings

ENDINGS AND BEGINNINGS

DISCLAIMER: I don't own the characters of BTVS or W.I.T.C.H. and I earn no profit in writing this.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: This takes place in the same continuity as 'I'm Done' but is not a sequel and stands alone quite well. If you have any comments or preferences, please don't be shy. RandR.

Will was getting tired again, and knew she would have to rest soon. For a length of time she couldn't begin to guess at, she had been moving through a dense forest without a sign of civilization, human or otherwise. It had been several hours since she'd even seen a trail, which made the trek all the more difficult. The terrain had varied between clearings with brush so thick it was near impossible to force her way through, and places where the trees grew so close together that their upper branches, even at noon, allowed too little light to get through to support any plant life beneath them, and Will was reduced to feeling her way through the darkness. She wanted very much to stop, but couldn't. It was hard to concentrate as it was. Cares about what was drawing her on, where she was being drawn to, and why seemed to evaporate before she could properly pose the questions. Physical exhaustion didn't help matters. The pull was strong, but it wouldn't keep her on her feet for too much longer.

Something up ahead caught her eye. A small stone building became dimly visible through the trees, a building that Will knew she just had to reach. Her fatigue momentarily forgotten, she pushed forward through the underbrush and onto a patch of relatively clear ground. There was a small stone house with a thatched roof not a hundred yards away.

The green stone around her neck seemed to pull at her almost physically, now, and she stumbled toward the door of the small house. That door opened and the fog lifted a bit as her goal came into sight. The Mage smiled in welcome.

"Ah, Will. We have been very worried about you."

"M-mage?" Will blinked and shook her head, trying to clear her mind. "What happened? I-I was with Aldarn, making plans to go to Kandrakhar when…" She broke off and shook her head. "I'm not sure."

"You disappeared, Will. We were frantic with worry, believing that the sorceress had captured or slain you."

"Well… I was attacked, but I managed to get away. Then…" She glanced down at the Stone of Threbe. "The Stone! You used this to find me and lead me here!"

"Yes. A drastic step perhaps, but we had no idea what had become of you. The Stone offers protection while it guides the one to whom it is sent." Will moved to take it off. "No. While you wear it, our enemies are kept at bay. Until we know more about what happened, you should keep it."

"I… suppose," Will sighed. "Can't wait to get rid of this thing, though. You have no idea how…" she struggled for a word and finally settled on "_unpleasant_ it is being 'guided' by this rock. I feel like I've been walking for days! How long has it been, anyway?"

"Almost three days since you vanished from Heatherfield. The sooner we discover the truth about our enemy and the attack on you, the sooner you will be able to return home safely. I believe a simple spell of revelation will answer many of our questions."

"Spell of revelation? Okay then. What do you need to do?"

"I will require the Heart of Kandrakhar. It has been with you the entire time and will have…perceived things you did not." She held out her hand, and Will removed the Heart, tangling the chain with the chord from which the Stone of Threbe hung. She removed both and separated them. The Stone was snatched out of her hand, causing her to jump back, clutching the Heart. Both whirled to see the Stone fly through the air and slap into the outstretched hand of an unfamiliar redheaded woman.

"Revelation? Sounds good to me." She raised her free hand and muttered a few words of Latin. There was a bright flash of light, and in its wake, illusions were stripped away. Will gasped as she recognized the hag from her dreams. "Back away from her, Will. Leave this 'sorceress' to me."

"Hey, don't leave us out," a familiar voice called. Will looked around for Hay Lin, but didn't see her. The hag looked around as well, trying to identify the source as she backed away from the unknown witch. Snatching the Stone of Threbe in the manner she had should have been impossible. For that matter, approaching her hideout undetected should have been impossible. Whoever the stranger was, she was powerful. Her retreat ended with a startled exclamation and a loud thud. She looked up from where she lay on her back, and saw Hay Lin flicker into existence. The small Asian grinned from the position she'd taken, kneeling behind her.

"I've always wanted to do that," Hay Lin smiled brightly before vanishing again and moving away. "Will! How 'bout giving us a makeover?"

Gathering her wits, Will raised the Heart. "Guardians unite!"

The usual fireworks subsided leaving herself, Hay Lin, and one other in guardian form. Will stared. So did Nerissa.

"What? How?" The old sorceress stared at the second Will as she clambered to her feet, at a loss to explain how that had come about.

"Remember me, Nerissa?" the second will demanded. "You killed me." Nerissa stared at the identical Guardians for a moment; then decided to sort it out later. Raising the Heart of Meridian, she lashed out in several directions at once with bolts of lightning. The Guardians dodged, one of the Wills shouting to the strange witch. "Look out!"

The warning proved unnecessary. An invisible shield turned the bolt away harmlessly. She smiled at Nerissa and spoke a single word. "Thicken."

The former Guardian's eyes widened in shock as the air congealed around her. She struggled against it but found that she was stuck fast. Drawing on the Heart of Meridian, she sent a pulse of raw force spreading outward like a ripple. The jewel crackled and glowed with power, and the encasing substance seemed to shatter, sending her enemies tumbling across the clearing. Hay Lin fetched up against a tree and was knocked unconscious. The two Wills hit the ground farther away. Both were conscious but had had the wind knocked out of them. Not a threat for the moment. "A fine spell," she allowed, advancing on the strange witch who looked up at her, shaking her head to clear it. Her shield spell had offered her some protection, but not enough. "I'll have to remember that one." Again, she lashed out with lightning. Again it was turned aside.

"I'll admit you have raw power," the stranger said, glaring up at her, trying to catch her breath. "Lots of it, but it's not yours. You've stolen it from someone else, and that makes all the difference. Probably why you're so clumsy with it, too."

Nerissa glared at the impudent young witch. Clumsy? How dare she? "You have no conception of my power. With the Heart, I-" Even as she raised the jewel she caught a motion from the corner of her eye. A small female foot, sheathed in an Earth-made running shoe came down on her wrist like an axe and Nerissa screamed as she felt the bones break. The Heart of Meridian flew in one direction even as she was sent flying in another.

She forced herself to her feet, despite the horrible throbbing in her jaw. "You'll pay for that." Nerissa glared at the girl who had just scooped up the Heart.

"Not so tough without your jewelry, are you?" Danielle smirked at her. "We'll be returning this to its rightful owner, now."

"I think not."

"Danielle! Look out!" Mina shouted, rushing forward.

Nerissa called the Heart to her, leaving a surprised Slayer empty handed as it vanished before her eyes. The lightning bolt the ex-Guardian threw caught her square in the chest, blasting her off her feet. Nerissa immediately had to ward off attacks from the two conscious Guardians and the witch.

More trouble materialized in the form of an arrow passing inches in front of her face. She turned to see Aldarn with Matt and another unfamiliar human girl by his side, leading a company of guards through the forest. She quickly assessed her options and came to the conclusion that there was nothing to be gained from fighting. The chance to acquire the Heart of Kandrakhar was gone. Her guise as the Mage had been ruined, meaning she could no longer spy on the Council. Even the Stone of Threbe was lost to her. With a growl of irritation, she teletransported away.

Maria screamed in frustrated rage as she reached the edge of the clearing and put on a burst of speed that had her at the place Nerissa had stood in barely a heartbeat ago. "Where is she?!"

"Gone," Will answered in a voice that was almost a growl. "She always does that when the odds turn against her."

Maria wasn't listening. She had already rushed to Danielle's side. The younger Slayer still wore the surprised expression she'd had when the Heartof Meridian had vanished from her hand. Maria collapsed next to her sister Slayer, who looked even smaller in death than she had in life.

OOOOOOOOOO

Susan had hung back, just as Mina had asked, but she had gotten close enough to see what was happening, and she had seen everything. She had seen Nerissa murder a child. She had seen her own child lash out viciously with the same impossible seeming power that Nerissa possessed. Finally, she had seen Maria, yet another child, begin to mourn a loss she should never have had to suffer.

Glancing around the rapidly filling clearing, she realized that, aside from Willow, she was the only human adult in the area, and she wasn't sure she should count Willow. The self-proclaimed witch had not displayed adult responsibility. _Children should not be doing this. This has to stop._ That, however, could wait. Calling to her girls, she entered the clearing at a stumbling run. It suddenly didn't matter how Mina had come to be or what they would do next; it only mattered that both were alive and well. Sweeping both into a hug, she clung tightly with no plans to release them in the near future.

"Um, mom?" She heard one of them venture after a moment. "I love you, too, but I can't breathe."

Upon being released, Will stared at her mother in mute incomprehension. "What are you doing here? How-?"

"I saw you disappear on the street, and Maria and Danielle were nearby. I…we… kind of put things together between us." Deciding that explanations could wait, she began examining the girls for injuries. Both squirmed and offered half-hearted protests, glancing at the guards around them who were studiously ignoring the reunion as Aldarn gave orders that the place be torn apart for any clue to where Nerissa might have gone or what her next move might be.

Yan Lin appeared in the clearing a moment later, having regained her ability to teletransport, and rushed to Hay Lin who, with Matt's assistance, was just getting to her feet. The old Chinese woman gave her granddaughter a hug and turned to survey the scene. Susan glared at her, muttering, "and I'm still the only rational adult here." The girls she still held close heard and gasped.

"That's not fair, mom! You don't know the whole story."

"She will soon enough." They all turned to see Willow and Maria approaching, the Slayer's cheeks tear stained, but her gaze unwavering. "I want to know everything, too. Tell me about your war. Tell me about Nerissa."

"Maria," Mina began hesitantly, but the older girl cut her off.

"Slayers have a tradition of revenge." Her tone and the look in her eyes brooked no argument. "She killed one of us today. That can't go unanswered. Your enemy is now our enemy."

THE END


End file.
